Roger Staubach was two classes ahead of Calvin Huey at the Naval Academy. However, the sophomore made such an impression on the senior that Staubach made mention of Huey in his autobiography titled “Staubach: First Down, Lifetime to Go.”

“Calvin Huey was just the kind of guy you liked. He had a great personality, worked hard in football and was an intelligent guy,” Staubach wrote.

Staubach remains the most renowned player in Navy football history, the 1963 Heisman Trophy winner and unanimous first team All-American. After serving in Viet Nam, “Roger the Dodger” would enjoy a remarkable 11-year career in the National Football League, leading the Dallas Cowboys to a pair of Super Bowl championships.

The six-time Pro Bowl selection was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1981 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985.

However, Huey holds his own special place in Navy football history – one that Staubach forever respected. The Mississippi native became the first African-American football player at the academy when he earned a varsity letter as a sophomore in 1964.

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Calvin Huey, former Navy football player.

Calvin Huey, former Navy football player. (HANDOUT)

Huey died on Sept. 1 at the age of 75 after a long, hard-fought battle with kidney disease. He lived in Annapolis for the better part of three decades with his wife Deborah and son Callen.

Staubach, like so many Navy football players of that era, was saddened to hear about the loss of such an important figure in the program’s history.

“I knew Calvin had some long-term health issues and I got the word that things had kind of taken a turn for the worse,” Staubach said in a phone interview with The Capital on Wednesday.

“I called Calvin not too long ago, but unfortunately was not able to speak to him. I did speak to his wife and son and was able to pass along how highly I thought of Calvin.”

Any diehard Navy football fan knows 1963 was one of the greatest seasons in program history with Staubach leading the team to a 9-2 record and berth in the Cotton Bowl. Navy defeated archrival Army in one of the most memorable games in series history since it came shortly after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

In addition to the Heisman Trophy, Staubach was also presented with the prestigious Maxwell Award and was named Player of the Year by Sporting News and United Press International.

Most fans would like to forget the following season, which would prove to be the last for legendary head coach Wayne Hardin. Staubach suffered a foot injury in the season opener against Penn State and was hobbled the rest of the way. After initially trying to play through the pain, the standout quarterback missed several games and the Midshipmen went 0-4-1 during the month of October.

Staubach wasn’t the only key player hurt that year as star halfback Pat Donnelly and standout flanker Skip Orr also went down and missed considerable time. It was the loss of Orr that provided an opportunity for Huey, who performed well and wound up seizing the starting job.

“We began that season with a starting backfield of Roger, Pat, Kip Paskewich and myself,” said Orr, who currently lives in Falls Church, Virginia. “Within a few games, all four of us were injured. We had several sophomores, including Calvin, move into starting positions.”

Orr recalls that he wound up playing mostly on defense late in the season since Huey was excelling as the primary wide receiver.

“Coach Hardin said Calvin was doing a good job at flanker and that he really needed me more on defense than offense,” said Orr, who still led Navy with 31 catches for 299 yards in 1964.

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Calvin Huey (49) during the 1965 Navy-Syracuse game.

Calvin Huey (49) during the 1965 Navy-Syracuse game. (HANDOUT)

A TRUE TRAILBLAZER

Staubach, Orr and other members of the Class of 1965 entered the Naval Academy with an African-American football player named Darryl Hill, who would make history elsewhere. Hill, a Washington, D.C. native, was Staubach’s favorite target on the Navy plebe team that went 8-1 in 1961.

However, Hill left the academy following the school year and transferred to Maryland – having been lured away by assistant coach Lee Corso, who is now a popular ESPN college football analyst. Hill became the first black football player in the history of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Having played as a plebe with Hill, Staubach and Orr thought nothing of Huey joining the Navy football team two years later.

“I don’t remember people making a big deal about it at the time. There wasn’t much publicity about Calvin at all that I recall,” Orr said. “I know as players we didn’t find it unusual because we had come into the academy with Darryl Hill.”

Despite the two-year difference in classes, Orr would become fairly close with Huey.

“We established a great rapport because we practiced at same position every day,” he said. “Calvin was quiet, soft-spoken and very intelligent. He had a good sense of humor and was very easy to talk with.”

Orr estimates that Huey was about 6-foot-2 and 180 pounds with ideal skills for the flanker position. Orr remembers noticing that Huey had unusually large hands, a helpful attribute for a receiver.

“One day I said ‘Calvin, let me put my hands up against yours.’ It was like a baby matching hands with a man. Calvin had huge hands and whenever the ball came near him he snagged it,” Orr said.

While Orr did not pretend to think Huey did not endure some level of racism during his time in Annapolis, such sentiments certainly did not exist within the Navy football team.

Head coach Ken Niumatalolo was perturbed last week when he learned that a shipping problem had prevented the Navy football team’s equipment from returning from Hawaii on time.

The Midshipmen were not able to conduct a padded practice last Tuesday as they normally would and Niumatalolo made mention...

“You could not help but like Calvin Huey because he was such an engaging guy,” Orr said. “Calvin was a good player and a good person, and the fact he was African-American did not mean a thing. He was just another member of the team as far as we were concerned.”

After briefly attending Tuskegee Institute, Huey left the Deep South and headed west, attending Oakland City College in California. He was named a junior college All-American as a quarterback and was encouraged to apply for the Naval Academy.

Representatives from Huey’s home state denied his request for a service academy appointment with one congressman stating he did not want the youngster to be a “stain on Mississippi.”

Undeterred, Huey succeeded in having a California congressman nominate him and was accepted into the Naval Academy based solely off academic credentials. Huey would later tell Navy radio announcer Bob Socci that he had no contact with Navy football coaches before trying out for the team as a plebe.

Many of Huey’s football teammates from the Class of 1967 did not know until his recent death that he had been such a talented quarterback. Dave Church, starting punter for the 1966 squad, was close friends with Huey and does remember the circumstances.

“We got word that every plebe who wanted to go out for football should show up at Farragut Field. Well, there were about 300 of us on the first day of tryouts,” Church recalled.

“Calvin came in as a quarterback, but there were about 14 quarterbacks trying out just for the plebe team. Calvin made a strategic decision to switch to wide receiver and it made a lot of sense,” Church added. “Calvin had big, soft hands and could catch anything. He also could really leap and would go above defenders to grab the ball.”

Huey was such a fine athlete that he also made the Navy plebe basketball squad in 1961-62. He would later tell Socci for a story that appeared in the Navy football game program that being a member of both the football and basketball teams made for an easier transition.

“I think I pretty much had a free ride by being an athlete,” Huey said. “I wasn't dumped on as much as other midshipmen because I was playing sports. I had no trouble because I ate at the training table for football and basketball. I joke that I had a two-week plebe year.”

SUCCESS AFTER GRADUATION

Huey was actually one of two African-American members of the Class of 1967 along with Peter Tzoms, who became the first black graduate of the Naval Academy accepted into the nuclear power program.

“Calvin really was a wonderful man, just a super human being,” said Church, who spoke at Huey’s funeral service on Tuesday at the First Baptist Church in Annapolis. “Calvin was an incredibly smart man who was always happy and smiling.”

Following graduation, Huey was assigned to the USS Perry out of Mayport, Florida and was soon deployed on the first of two tours of duty in Vietnam. He reached the rank of lieutenant and later earned a PhD in chemistry, returning to the Naval Academy in 1973 as a professor.

Huey spent three years teaching chemistry while also serving as an assistant coach to Jack Cloud with what was then known as the Navy 150-pound football team. Tom Leiser, a former football teammate at Navy, persuaded Huey to come work for IBM and he spent 14 years with the computer company before having to retire after undergoing the first of two kidney transplants.

Despite deteriorating health, Huey remained steadfast in his support of Navy football and attended numerous home games right up until last season.

“It was sad seeing Calvin have such a tough time over the last few years from a physical standpoint. He was in and out of the hospital on a fairly routine basis,” said Skip Dittman, a classmate and teammate of Huey’s. “Somehow, Calvin always came back for every event or reunion we had.”

Dittman was the starting center at Navy for a couple seasons and remembers how Huey almost helped salvage that dismal 1964 campaign that brought such a disappointing end to Staubach’s illustrious career.

Navy was on the verge of beating Maryland in the annual in-state rivalry game after Huey caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Staubach with just under three minutes remaining.

“I actually called that play,” Huey said years later. “Roger would sprint out to the right and the Maryland defense would flow with him. I suggested he do a half roll, and throw back to me.”

Unfortunately, Kenny Ambrusko returned the ensuing kickoff 101 yards for a touchdown to give Maryland a dramatic 27-22 win.

“Calvin will always be remembered for the touchdown he scored against Maryland,” Dittman said. “It’s really a shame that kickoff return took away some of the heroics of Calvin’s big catch.”

Dittman does remember when Navy traveled to Georgia Tech in 1964 and Huey became the first black player to ever step foot on the field at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

“You can never assume what someone like Calvin faced back then in terms of the current climate and what it was like to be an African-American football player,” Dittman said. “To see him handle everything with such grace and a positive attitude was a real tribute to the type of person Calvin was.”

Dittman will not remember his classmate as the first African-American football player at the Naval Academy, but simply as a fine football player and loyal friend.

“I just remember Calvin’s physical attributes in terms of being an outstanding athlete and very capable receiver,” Dittman said. “Of course, his academic accomplishments speak for themselves and it was no surprise to anyone in the class that Calvin was very successful in life. I admired Calvin so much for all of what he accomplished.”